The Luther Crest Senior Dwelling Group in Allentown, Pennsylvania underwent an expansive renovation plan that included an entire transformation of the neighborhood’s culinary and eating expertise.
As a part of a $11 million renovation challenge for the neighborhood heart on campus, leaders reworked the eating expertise from a typical, buffet-style structure right into a modernized culinary expertise with 5 new eating choices.
The extra eating venues have been paired with new menus throughout quite a lot of cuisines in an effort to attach with evolving resident tastes and modernize the general eating expertise.
Past elevating the eating expertise, the eating renovation additionally included new self-service choices for informal eating and robots help ready workers named Figgy that’s turn into in style with residents.
For its dedication to modernizing and elevating the general senior dwelling eating expertise, the Lutheran Senior Companies renovation effort was named the 2024 Structure and Design Awards winner for the eating innovation class.
It ought to be famous that earlier this week, LSS has rebranded as EverTrue.
The idea
The concept for renovating the neighborhood heart’s eating and culinary choices was born out of necessity and a need for change, leaders instructed Senior Housing Information.
“It was proper after Covid and we nonetheless had a buffet and we knew we wanted to reinvent our eating and culinary choices,” mentioned Lutheran Senior Companies Vice President of Bodily Property David Baker. “What adopted was an awesome vibe round what the whole lot would appear to be and it grew from there.”
The brand new eating areas sought to mix fashionable hospitality and senior dwelling to craft an surroundings that balances heat, performance and aesthetic attraction, in line with SCOPOS Hospitality Group Principal Andrey Teleguz.
One of many eating areas, Vine & Fig, has an open kitchen idea framed in a mixture of glass and steel with inexperienced accents with bar seating alongside the kitchen counter. Massive home windows assist usher in pure gentle into the house to create an inviting surroundings to share a meal.
The Chromium Grille is an off-the-cuff bistro providing American fare and wood-fired coronary heart for cooking pizza. The Fullenbach Room is a personal eating house that’s reserved for events and household gatherings. The Metal Valley Pub is a bar providing drinks and small plates with smoked meats and a full service bar.
Widespread Grounds Market and Cafe is a neighborhood espresso store providing espresso and house-made pastries with cafe-style seating with a grab-and-go retail part that’s open 24/7.
The expanded kitchens to assist the brand new eating now contains upgraded gear together with blast freezers, Rationale Combi ovens and immersion circulators, providing residents expanded menus throughout quite a lot of cuisines from cultures around the globe. Some examples of recent dishes embody hickory-smoked, dry rub wings, filet mignon and applewood-smoked ribs.
The educating kitchen now makes it attainable for cooks to supply cooking demonstrations and lessons for residents, with cameras live-streaming the lessons into the flats in order that residents can cook dinner alongside of their properties.
The overhaul effort had a strategic purpose of accelerating Luther Crest’s skill to usher in extra unbiased dwelling residents, Baker mentioned, with planning beginning in early 2019 and plans have been made so as to add a 72-unit IL condo constructing to the neighborhood.
As soon as that challenge was underway, Baker famous that it was “instantly evident” the neighborhood heart’s outdated eating structure and facilities wanted to be renovated to assist new development on campus.
“What we did is there have been a number of variations of grasp planning, sketching, house research and explored culinary narratives,” Teleguz mentioned.
The highest problem through the challenge’s planning course of got here from the issues of the Covid-19 pandemic and figuring out the best way to proceed with a grasp planning effort. Finally, what resulted was transferring from the normal three eating venue mannequin to now having “seven new and progressive” eating settings for residents, Baker mentioned.
The neighborhood is operated by LSS with Noelker & Hull Associates serving because the challenge architect and inside design agency. Development was dealt with by Wilson Development and culinary consulting was given by Scopos Hospitality Group.
The development
The development of the $11 million overhaul of the neighborhood heart was a part of the broader IL constructing enlargement that totaled $39 million.
Work on the brand new neighborhood heart began in December of 2022 and the condo constructing got here afterwards, beginning in January of 2023.
Throughout development, the neighborhood heart renovations have been challenged on account of timing of the a number of phases of development in an effort to not disrupt neighborhood life. This occurred as employees have been constructing a brand new kitchen, renovating the bistro and grill whereas additionally increasing the prevailing kitchen right into a cooking house for IL residents and added a bar tavern that was tied onto the kitchen and foremost eating house.
Total, the challenge’s design didn’t considerably change, Baker famous, however slight changes have been made throughout development phases based mostly on the each day operational wants of the prevailing neighborhood.
After the mud settled, development of the brand new IL constructing and new neighborhood heart have been each “barely” beneath price range, Baker added, one thing he attributed to the group’s willingness to collaborate and share concepts throughout planning.
The completion
The ultimate part of the neighborhood heart and eating overhaul was accomplished in July of final yr.
In seeing residents work together with the brand new house, Baker mentioned the impression has been “unbelievable” and has been used as a focus to draw new residents to the neighborhood. Well-liked components of the brand new eating venues embody the pub and foremost eating house on the bottom ground.
“The completed neighborhood heart challenge ended up effectively past what I initially had in thoughts. Each venue is effectively utilized by the residents and anybody that walks via the door is in awe of the surroundings,” Baker mentioned.
Lease up of the neighborhood’s new and present IL items additionally elevated as soon as the neighborhood heart and new eating venues opened, Baker added.
“The truth that the neighborhood heart and culinary venues are at all times busy tells me the design was successful,” Baker mentioned.
